That's the Ticket: All-Star Weekend

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The baseball world is coming to your door, Minnesota. Get out there and soak up your city.

You’ll have lots of opportunities. The All-Star Weekend is packed with TONS of opportunities to meet ex-Twins. Hell, even Twins Daily is getting into the act with a Happy Hour on Monday. Here is a rundown of some of the higher profile events and their prices as seen at TicketKingOnline.com.

All-Star Fan FestHere is the most inclusive and probably fan-friendly event of the weekend. It runs from Friday through Tuesday and includes a ton of activities and chances to meet your favorite Twins alums and other MLB greats for autographs, clinics, photos and Q&A sessions. The schedule is overwhelming. Tickets are $35 apiece ($30 for kids) and as little as half of that at Ticket King.

You’ll also have multiple opportunities to watch some Society of American Baseball Research (SABR) panel discussions there. They include the History of Baseball in Minnesota, Statistical Analysis, Official Scoring, Twin Cities Stadiums and Toni Stone, an African-American woman from St. Paul who played in the Negro Leagues between 1937 and 1954. I’ll be participating in the one on Minnesota Baseball History at Friday at 2:00.

Obviously, Twins Daily is maybe more excited about the Futures Game than most other events this weekend. Three players from the Twins organization should be participating;

Alex Meyer – Meyer is the top pitching prospect in the Twins organization and has spent the year impressing in AAA. After a recent rough stretch, he has bounced back strong in his last two starts with 17 K in 12 IP with just 3 ER. With those kinds of numbers, this may not be his only appearance at Target Field this year.

JO Berrios – Berrios was recently promoted to AA as a 20-year-old, making him the youngest player at that level. He’s already thrown 101.1 innings this year with a 2.31 ERA and 113K in 101.1 IP. He also looks like a strong contributor to the Twins future.

Kennys Vargas – With Miguel Sano laid up this year, Vargas has become the Twins most talked about minor league slugger. As a 23-year-old in AA, he has been the complete (hitting) package, showing power (.474 slugging perecentage), patience (53K and 35 BB) and good contact (.291 batting average). It’s unclear if the lumbering switch-hitter will be able to stay at first base, but his bat should be a welcome addition to the Twins lineup in the next year or so.

2014 All Star Workout and Home Run DerbyNow we’re getting into the heavy hitters – literally. Twins fans may well have a fan favorite on both the AL and NL rosters. Current Twin Brian Dozier is going to try and yank those high fastballs into the left field bleachers. (I see 50 tickets available there at Ticket King.) And there are lots of rumors that Justin Morneau may be added to the NL roster if he isn’t voted onto the All-Star roster by the fans.

Tickets are significant, and in a twist, it looks like they’re pricier in the bleachers where you have a chance of catching a home run ball. (Bring your glove.) You can get lower level infield seats for less than $200 (which is quite a bit below the price MLB charged, I think.)

And if you can’t go, why not join us Monday night at Mason’s to watch the action with the Twins Daily posse?

2014 All-Star GameEither this is on your bucket list or it isn’t. If it isn’t, you’re off the hook. But if it is something that you’re going to want to do, this is your chance to do it. Any other year, you can add travel costs and hotel costs, which are off the charts. This year, you have a ticket cost and not much more.

It is what it is: an exhibition which happens to exhibit the game’s biggest stars. It’s going to include Miguel Cabrera, Mike Trout, David Price, Andrew McCutchen, Yasiel Puig and Clayton Kershaw. There is going to be a lot of pomp and circumstance. There will be an unbelievable amount of hype surrounding Derek Jeter’s last All-Star Game. There will be a ballgame with a tremendous number of substitutions. And there might be a "Is it dusty in here?" Justin Morneau moment.

Either you want to pay for that or not. If you do, it’s going to cost you. I see All-Star tickets going for as little as $347. It looks like the markup in my section, section 102, is a couple of hundred dollars over face value. So it’s going to cost you as much as a short vacation. I think I’ll remember it longer than most vacations I’ve taken. I’ll be there.[/HR]You’ll find links to tickets for all the events in the above story and all are an even better deal if you use the promo code DAILYDOUBLE, which will get you 10% off and supports Twins Daily. Whatever your needs, your local ticket supplier,Ticket King, can help.